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Judge Denies Bond For Lionel Tate

Teen Will Remain In Jail Until At Least August

POSTED: Thursday, June 2, 2005
UPDATED: 5:09 pm EDT June 2, 2005

Lionel Tate will not be getting out of jail anytime soon. Thursday, a judge denied bond for the 18-year-old convicted killer.

Lionel Tate's mug shot, shortly after his arrest.
Tate, the youngest person in modern U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison, was arrested May 24. He is accused of pulling a gun on a Domino's pizza deliveryman at a friend's apartment and also beating up the friend. Tate denies the charges and said other boys told him they had "held up a pizza guy."

Tate, now 18, is being held in the Broward County Jail on charges of armed robbery, armed burglary with battery, and probation violation.

Tate was serving probation after being released in a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the beating death of a 6-year-old family friend when he was 12.

On Thursday, Tate's lawyer requested bond and a jury trial for the teen. The judge denied both. Tate will remain in jail until his next hearing in August 8. If he is convicted of the new charges, Tate could once again face life in prison.

Tate's 'Wrestling Death' Conviction

Tate made headlines when he was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Tiffany Eunick. He was convicted in 1999 and sent to prison for life without chance of parole for the so-called "wrestling death," named because Tate claimed he was imitating professional wrestling moves when he killed Tiffany. He changed his story years later and said he accidentally killed Tiffany when he jumped on her from a staircase while his mother was baby-sitting the girl. Tate weighed 160 pounds; Tiffany weighed about 50.

Tate won a new trial on appeal and went free in January 2004 under a deal that placed him under house arrest for a year followed by probation for 10 years.

He was arrested in September for violating probation by being out of his home overnight after an argument with his mother. A judge added another five years to the 10 years Tate had left on the original probation.

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